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The San Francisco 49ers have lost a 5th round draft pick in this year’s draft, and will exchange 3rd round picks with the Chicago Bears after being found guilty of tampering with Bears LB Lance Briggs last season.

Briggs, who was designated as the Bears franchise player last season and initially held out over the issue, eventually signed his one year tender and reported to the team. Sometime during the season, the Bears filed charges that the 49ers had made contact with Briggs’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

Despite making threats of leaving last year, Briggs signed a 6-year, $36 million contract with the Bears early in free agency this year, meaning the 49ers lose a draft pick, and give the Bears a better pick in the third for…doing nothing that resulted in them getting an advantage over another NFL team.

At the same time, I wonder if the penalty would have been tougher had they actually landed Briggs–the Patriots did have to give up a first round pick (but only one of theirs, not the one they got from the 49ers) for Spygate.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to read about how great Drew Rosenhaus is, I highly recommend his book A Shark Never Sleeps. He’ll fill you in on how smart he is, how great he is with women, and how important he is. It definitely is an…interesting read.

Pittsburgh will travel to Toronto in August to play a preseason game against Buffalo, one of eight games the Bills will play at the Rogers Centre over the next five seasons.

The Steelers last played in Ontario in 1960 when they defeated the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in a preseason game, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Bills received permission from the NFL to schedule five regular season games and three preseason games in Toronto over the next five seasons, a move some Buffalo fans fear could mean a franchise relocation in time.

The league claims it helps to provide the Bills with regionalization and a stronger fan base, the story claims, though it’s hard to think that the larger city and the nicer venue wouldn’t be attractive to the league.

At some point Toronto would have to be considered a potential home base for some team, whether through expansion or relocation. It beats the hell out of most American cities without franchises, including Los Angeles, which has seen three previous efforts at supporting a team fail.

Lofa Tatupu landed a $42 million contract extension that will keep him in Seattle through 2015. Media reports indicate that four teammates restructured deals primarily so the team could re-sign Tatupu, who would have become a free agent after 2009.

About $18 million is guaranteed.

Reports also indicate that the Seahawks might be close to terminating the contract of RB Shaun Alexander. The team signed T.J. Duckett and Julius Jones early in free agency, making Alexander’s future in the city appear bleak.

The Seahawks have won the NFC West four years in a row.

Jason Elam, long of the Denver Broncos, has left the snowy weather for climate-controlled Atlanta, according to media reports.

Elam has been one of the best, both in terms of accuracy and distance. But it’s hard to understand why the Falcons need a 38-year-old kicker when the rest of the team is pretty terrible, especially one that will cost $9 million for four years.

He did grow up in Snellville, an Atlanta suburb.

The Oakland Raiders have reportedly agreed to trade a second round draft choice to the Atlanta Falcons for disgruntled cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

They also will pay him, allegedly, $70 million for seven years of service.

It just doesn’t end this off-season for the Raiders who continue throwing money around like Pacman Jones at a Las Vegas strip club.

That’s even better money than Asante Samuel got to leave New England for Philadelphia a couple weeks ago - and Samuel has not only outperformed Hall, but has played in Super Bowls.

This is almost like watching some horror movie - you can’t believe what you are seeing, but it’s too fascinating to turn away.

What is the old man in Oakland thinking?

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